The Refrain Interview: Project Vela

Denver, Colorado hard rock band Project Vela has just released their latest single, ‘You Can’t Fix Me’. The radio-ready single opens with atmospheric, pulsing synths before exploding into a full-frontal rock assault, showcasing Project Vela’s knack for modern rock production and songwriting prowess. The melodic duo bridges electronic, pop, and alternative elements to create a fresh, explosive sound that British metal magazine Fireworks hailed as “exciting and creative”.

We had the chance to interview Project Vela as part of The Refrain Interview Series. Check it out below

Refrain Music Blog: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. You have a new single out now. What’s it called?

Project Vela: The single is called “You Can’t Fix Me”

RMB: What is the song about, in terms of lyrics? Any overarching messages or themes?

PV: Oh for sure. You can’t fix me is the same story from two opposite viewpoints. It’s when you’re so broken, you come to the conclusion you can’t be fixed. And those who are closest to you, who have been trying to help, finally arrive at the same conclusion that you can’t be fixed. And it all comes to a head in the chorus conversation. You’re both lost, helpless, and resigned to a fate of helplessness.

RMB: Is this single part of an album? If so tell us a little bit about that.

PV: It’s the first release for an upcoming EP. It’ll be 6 songs total when all is said and done. It’s called “Elsewhere”, and the whole EP follows a lot of similar themes. It’s really all about dealing with the myriad of thoughts and feelings that come with dealing with depression and dissociation. Both how it affects the person experiencing it, and the people around them.

RMB: How does this single differ from your previous work?

PV: It’s always been hard for us to examine our songs on a level like that. We rarely set out specifically to do something “different”. Really I just know how to write what’s in my head, and hope it comes out well. I think we’re finally coming into our own style a little more. This EP overall I think is more diverse in terms of genres it covers, but also more cohesive from a songwriting and production standpoint.

RMB: What’s the story on how it was recorded? The Who, When, Where etc. Was it a long process or quick? Any good stories about the recording process?

PV: It’s definitely been a long time coming. We started writing this before Covid, and like many bands, Covid derailed a lot of our plans. Really, there are a lot of things through the process that derailed a lot of our plans. That was kind of the theme of the EP haha. We write and do all our production remotely. Travis and I (Scott) live in different states, and we use Pro Tools cloud collaboration to work together in the same session writing and arranging the songs. For this EP, Travis flew out to Kansas (where I live), we rented a studio for a few days and engineered it all ourselves. I (Scott) play drums and do vocals. Travis and I share the duties of guitar and keys. In those few days we tracked most of 5 songs for the EP, and thought we had a pretty good start. We really wanted a sixth song for the EP, so we started writing and recording another one remotely. We started working on the release plans by booking video shoots, photo shoots, getting everything mixed (by Scott) and mastered (mastered by Kris Crummett), getting a new branding guide full of logos, logotype, emblems, colors, textures, and moods. We’re super happy with how all of these things turned out, but it seemed like we were always met with a big hurdle and massive delays with each step of the process. The working title of this EP the whole time we were making it was “EP 2021”, because we fully expected it to be done and released at some point in 2021. But looking back, the process of making the record really did accurately reflect the feelings that went into the writing. So maybe it was just serendipitous that it turned out that way.

RMB: Tell us a little about the band. Who all is in it and how did you form? How long have you been together?

PV: Project Vela is just a 2 piece operation at the moment. It’s just me (Scott Spriggs) and Travis Owen. I live in Kansas, Travis lives in Colorado. We met quite a long time ago around 2009-2010 when I was living in Colorado. We played in different bands that were handled by the same booking/promotion company in the Denver scene, so we ended up playing quite a few shows together. We always got along great, but didn’t know each other super well. A while after I moved to Kansas (around 2016), Travis contacted me wondering if I wanted to help him finish writing some songs he’d been working on. These songs didn’t really work for his band, so he was looking for another perspective to help them find their potential. This was the beginning of Project Vela. We finished one song, and really liked how it turned out, so we finished a few more of each other’s ideas, and that’s what became the first EP, “Disconnected”, that we released in 2017. We just started out doing this for fun, with no added pressure or expectations. Then a few months after “Disconnected” came out, things just started to catch fire through some online groups and forums, and before we knew it, we had some actual real world fans that cared about the music. And it all just kind of snowballed from there. We’ve focused on just writing and recording music to release digitally. The distance between us hasn’t really allowed us to play live shows, and so we really haven’t needed to expand the Project Vela lineup to take care of anything. We’re both multi-instrumentalists and producers so we can pretty much cover anything we need.

RMB: Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

PV: We have so many. From a super young age, Travis grew up with a lot of 80s hair metal, and I grew up with a lot of classic rock like America and Pink Floyd. Both of us grew up big on the post grunge and nu metal bands like Seether, Chevelle, Korn, and Sevendust. All that kind of meshed into what we have now. I (Scott) am obsessed with production, so I follow a lot of music from my favorite producers like Rob Graves, Erik Ron, and Daniel Braunstein, so I bring a lot of those vibes. Travis brings a lot of the EDM vibes from the likes of Illenium and Seven Lions.

RMB: What’s the one thing you are most proud of in your career so far?

PV: For me (Scott) it’s the messages we get from people that talk about how much the music has helped them. Some of it, literally life saving. That’s such a weird and surreal concept to think about. But to me there’s no greater compliment than that for the authenticity of the music.

RMB: If you had to pitch your music to a potential fan in less than 10 seconds, what would you say?

PV: If you like the sad songs from bands like Bring Me the Horizon and I Prevail, you’ll probably find something in our discography you like. The important thing to us is that you connect to the emotion and honesty of the music.

RMB: What’s one piece of advice you’ve gotten that you think everyone needs to hear or that has meant the most to you?

PV: “I encourage you to question, research, and learn. You should question everything, and be passionate about learning ANYTHING…There are no answers to some questions, and that’s ok. But don’t quit asking.”

RMB: If you could go back in time, what’s a piece of advice you would give to a younger you?

PV: Start early and commit early. Don’t be afraid to take risks and be vulnerable and honest with your thoughts and emotions.

RMB: What’s coming up next for your musical project?

PV: Next is a big push for the EP release. 5 more songs over the course of 10 weeks until all 6 drop together on Sept 29. We’ve got CD preorders and limited run merch preorders going live about a month before that. We’re also really hoping to be able to figure out the logistics of jumping into the live shows finally. We get so many messages and comments from so many cool people wondering when and where we’re touring, I’d love nothing more than to be able to meet them all and talk to them in person.

RMB: Anything we haven’t thought of that you want to talk about?

PV: The other thing we’re going to try is live streaming. We’ve been streaming an early preview for our new songs and videos the day before they release, and taking some time to hang out and chat with the people in the stream and it’s been a TON of fun. After the release we’re not sure what we’ll stream, but since we do our songwriting and production online with each other, that seems like a good starting place. We do it simultaneously on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch. If you feel like joining in, just follow us on those platforms and get those notis on so you can join us live.